Whether it’s oil rubbed on your skin, bubbles in your bath, or dried and sprinkled atop your favorite morning muffin, lavender is an essential ingredient to help promote relaxation and calm. This delicate, yet hardy flowering plant belongs to the mint family and has 450 different varieties! With a vividly purple flower and intoxicating aroma, lavender is one of the most useful, beautiful, and aromatic plants to have in your home or garden.
This flower has many other uses besides sprucing and freshening your home. Lavender has been used in ancient medicine for over 2500 years. It’s been known to promote sleep, treat skin blemishes, reduce pain, help reduce blood pressure and inflammation, and it even has anti-bacterial properties!
Yet, lavender is most well-known for its ability to promote relaxation. This is mostly because lavender “works as an anxiolytic (an anxiety reliever) and as a sedative,” interacting with the “neurotransmitter GABA to help quiet the brain and nervous system activity, reducing agitation, anger, aggression, and restlessness.” It also helps that lavender’s scent is incredibly calming. When infused into a recipe, it’s not only sweet and savory but calming from the inside out.
Here are a handful of sweet lavender recipes from the Food Monster App to delight the palate and relax the body!
1. Banana Chocolate Lavender Bars
Source: Banana Chocolate Lavender Bars
These Banana Chocolate Lavender Barsby Jessica Bose are super simple, gluten-free, unsweetened cocoa powder-rich brownies. Bose creatively uses a tablespoon of lavender buds to make these banana-sweetened brownies an anxiety-reducing delight.
2. Strawberry Rose and Berry Lavender Tarts
Source: Strawberry Rose and Berry Lavender Tarts
These Strawberry Rose and Berry Lavender Tarts by Maria Koutsogiannis are the perfect pretty touch to a dinner party or your treat! Nutrient-rich with coconut oil, chia seeds, and almonds, naturally sweetened with berries, Medjool dates, and strawberries, and infused with calming lavender water or buds and edible rose petals.
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3. Berry Lavender Poached Pears with Granola
Source: Berry Lavender Poached Pears with Granola
Think lavender is just for desserts? Think again with this Berry Lavender Poached Pears with Granola recipe by Melina Kutelas. Using a base of gluten-free rolled oats, buckwheat groats, and almonds, this berry and lavender sweetened granola will perk you up, keep you going, and keep your head firmly planted on your shoulders all day long!
4. Lavender Truffles
Source: Lavender Truffles
The key to this Lavender Truffles recipe by Natasha Minocha is using 70 percent dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is filled with powerful antioxidants, especially if it’s over 70 percent. This super simple recipe calls for only three ingredients — dark chocolate, dried lavender, and coconut cream — and these delicious bites take only 10 minutes to make!
5. Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream
Source: Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream
Ice cream is that all-around, wonderful, always cherished sweet treat to live in your freezer. This Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream recipe by Melissa Haithco*ck asks for fresh lavender making this traditional, classic snack the perfect vegan, grain-free, calming retreat.
6. Slow-Cooker Lavender Rose Hot Chocolate
Source: Slow-Cooker Lavender Rose Hot Chocolate
Lavender and rose are both sweet, yet savory natural agents that are excellent to infuse your favorite beverage, such as this Slow-Cooker Lavender Rose Hot Chocolate recipe by Kathy Hester. Five ingredients, two steps, and you’ve got a calming, lightly sweetened, aromatic hot chocolate.
7. Vanilla Lavender Cupcakes
Source: Vanilla Lavender Cupcakes
Looking for that unique spin on the classic cupcake recipe? This Vanilla Lavender Cupcakes recipe by Clemence Moulaert is an unforgettable and creative use of lavender extract, almond milk, dairy-free yogurt, and apple cider vinegar.
8. Raw Lavender and Lemon Cheesecake
Source: Raw Lavender and Lemon Cheesecake
Raw may not always work, but raw ingredients make this cheesecake fly! This Raw Lavender and Lemon Cheesecake recipe by Emily von Euw uses fresh ingredients including dried lavender, lemon juice, coconut oil, and dates, plus an array of healthy fat-filled nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and cashews.
9. Lavender Grilled Pears Stuffed with Coconut Whipped Cream
Source: Lavender Grilled Pears Stuffed with Coconut Whipped Cream
Perfect treats to serve at your next dinner party or family gathering! This Lavender Grilled Pears Stuffed with Coconut Whipped Cream recipe by Gabrielle St. Claire calls for calming lavender oil, as well as healthy fat-filled coconut oil and full-fat coconut milk all mixed and whipped into the natural bowl of a pear.
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10. Lavender Vanilla Dream Balls
Source: Lavender Vanilla Dream Balls
While these dream balls have a list of ingredients, they only take two simple steps. The Lavender Vanilla Dream Balls recipe by Emily von Euw includes an array of healthy fat-filled coconut products, walnuts, cashews, as well as spices and flavoring such as cinnamon, vanilla, salt, ginger, and agave, plus a dash of dried lavender.
11. Lemonade with a Calming Twist
Source: Lemonade with a Calming Twist
Trying to cut back on that sugar-filled soda? Try this Lemonade with a Calming Twist recipe by Jesse Lane Lee which uses bubbly club soda, fresh lemon, and food-grade lavender for a tart, yet soothing sipper.
12. Salted Lavender Fudge Oatmeal
Source: Salted Lavender Fudge Oatmeal
This Salted Lavender Fudge Oatmeal recipe by Lauren Smith is incredibly nutrient-rich with fiber-filled oatmeal, protein rilled-chia seeds, adaptogenic and antioxidant-rich cocoa, and anxiety-reducing lavender buds.
13. Frozen Blueberry Tart
Source: Frozen Blueberry Tart
The perfect cold treat for a hot summer day! This Frozen Blueberry Tart recipe by Quelcy Kogel is not only vegan but is also gluten-free using unsweetened shredded coconut and almond flour for the crust infused with lavender buds.
14. No-Bake Lavender Fig Custard Tart
Source: No-Bake Lavender Fig Custard Tart
How does this No-Bake Lavender Fig Custard Tart recipe by Mitra Shirmohammadi get that custardy filling with only vegan ingredients? A creative mixture of arrowroot powder, maple syrup, agar, and coconut milk. Plus, this recipe is topped off with sweet figs and fresh mint and offers a hint of hazelnut in the date and coconut oil-based crust.
15. Blackberry Lemon Lavender Cheezecake
Source: Blackberry Lemon Lavender Cheezecake
It’s called cheezecake because you may think it’s that traditional dairy dessert, yet this one is vegan! This Blackberry Lemon Lavender Cheezecake recipe by Melissa Layne mixes calming dried lavender, antioxidant-rich blueberries, and an oily thick mixture of cashews, pecans, and walnuts.
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Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home
Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help withchronic inflammation,heart health,mental wellbeing,fitness goals,nutritional needs,allergies,gut health,andmore! Unfortunately, dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, includingacne,hormonal imbalance,cancer,prostate cancer,and has manyside effects.
For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend purchasing one of our manyplant-based cookbooksor downloading theFood Monster Appwhich has thousands of delicious recipes making it the largest vegan recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about theenvironmentalandhealth benefitsof aplant-based diet.
Here are some resources to get you started:
- Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
- Plant-Based Health Resources
- The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
- Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
- Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
- High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
- Plant-Based Meal Prep
Easy Ways to Help the Planet:
- Eat Less Meat:DownloadFood Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of ourfavorite vegan cookbooks.
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